Annie and the Doctor
by Entaria
Summary: The Doctor meets a new companion, and they go on adventures. What, you were expecting something more? (No romance, no Mary Sue)
1. Run - Part 1

**A/N: This one is a little bit of an experiment for me. Annie is an original character meant to fill a (sort of) sidekick (or maybe "companion" would be more appropriate?) role in a series of original novels I'm working on. But, she decided that she wanted to have a little run with the Doctor first, and since that gives me the perfect opportunity to practice writing from her perspective and work out her history and back story, I decided to let her.**

**Because I'm sure some people got worried at the mere mention of an OC: There will be absolutely NO ROMANCE between the Doctor and Annie, and may God strike me down now if she turns into a Mary Sue.**

**This is mostly going to be a series of short ficlets (though the first one turned out much longer than expected). I'm open to ideas, and more than welcome requests.**

**This was originally going to be a Ninth Doctor fic, but Ten decided to jump in instead (and you are welcome to ignore any Ten-isms and imagine the Doctor of your choice, I won't be offended). I'm not really going to explicitly tie this in to any particular time in the series, so spoilers are unlikely, but I'll include spoiler warnings if they are needed.**

* * *

Annie fought back tears as she ran, the gut-wrenching cries slowly dying behind her.

Now is not the time, she told herself, pushing down the emotion in favour of fear and adrenaline.

Running from that... thing... had gotten her completely lost and turned around. The stench of it was still in her nose, the sound in her ears. Legs burning, she slowed down. She found an alley and ducked into it, leaning against the rough brick and wheezing as she tried to catch her breath. She heard the sniffing and snarling, the lumbering shuffling footsteps, and took off, tripping over cracks and garbage. She didn't dare give herself away by calling for help, and could only hope that by some stroke of luck, there would be someone around, despite the late hour.

She was hit by something and knocked to the ground. She reached out tentatively. No, not hit by something, ran into something, a wall. She brushed her fingers along the surface, wondering what it could be.

Wood? She stood up, following the wall to a corner.

A wooden box? She followed the wall around another corner. There was a panel that opened, and she found an old telephone inside.

Oh, thank the lord. Work, please work, she frantically dialled for help, praying that the old phone was still connected.

"Please, please!"

But there was no dial tone, not even static. Frantically, she tried to find a door. Something finally gave way, and she ran inside, slamming it behind her. She waited a moment, catching her breath. Tears threatened to start falling again, but she wiped them away.

"Not now, not now," she hissed to herself. She opened the door a crack, and could immediately smell the rotten stink of the creature. She slammed it shut once again, praying that it would hold as the thing tried to claw its way inside.

The scratching finally stopped, and Annie waited for the creature's steps to fade away, leaning heavily against the door.

"No, you will not cry," she once again cajoled herself. She had to calm down, figure out where she was, and how to get home.

But something was wrong. The air didn't feel right for something as small as a phone box. And the smell, it wasn't of old wood, but something... something she couldn't quite place. Metal and electricity, but... alive, organic. She took a few careful steps forward, and stretched out her hands, quickly pulling them back when they met nothing but air on either side.

"Oh that's... that's not right. That can't be right," she shook her head.

Annie could feel a faint vibration, accompanied by heat, radiating from under the floor. The farther from the door she moved, the stronger it became. She tripped on a raised platform, hissing as scraped knees met metal grating.

"What is this?" she straightened herself up painfully, climbing onto the platform – wondering if it would be better to go back – and found what she could only guess was some kind of instrument panel.

A key scraped in a lock, and Annie jumped and spun around. Footsteps entered, then paused.

"What?" the door slowly creaked shut. "Who... wha... how did you get in here?"

"The door was open," she almost squeaked the words, feeling trapped against the panel behind her.

"Huh," the door rattled as the man checked it, muttering to himself. "Must not have closed it all the way."

Annie felt behind her, hoping there might be something, anything, to defend herself with, just in case.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" the man shouted, pounding across the floor. "Don't touch that!" he pulled her away, and was silent for a moment, then took hold of her shoulders.

"Did you touch anything?"

His intensity scared her, and all she could manage was a shake of her head.

"Good," his grip loosened. "Now, what are you doing in here?"

She lowered her head, absentmindedly pulling a lock of hair over her face, "It's... I just... there was a... I got lost, I was just looking for a phone, or somebody who could get me a cab..."

"There was a..." he paused, seeming to be waiting for her to finish the sentence. "A what? What made you come in here? Why are you so scared?"

"Oh, it was nothing," she shook her head, shrugging away from his grip. "Just a dog or something."

"Hmmm," he sounded doubtful. "Alright. What's your name?"

"Annie. My name's Annie."

"Hello there Annie. I'm the Doctor. Now, what happened to you out there?"

"Nothing," she shook her head, quickly wiping at her eyes. "I told you, it was just a dog, chasing me."

"You don't sound very sure."

She turned her head away, curling a lock of hair through her fingers.

"What else could it have been?"

"You'd be surprised."

Something in his voice struck her. It belonged to a young man, but it sounded old, tired. The voice of someone who had seen far more than he wanted to.

"I don't know what it was. It came after me and... and... Charlie, he..." she gulped back a painful lump, taking a shuddering breath to keep herself composed. She would not cry in front of a complete stranger, absolutely not.

"What did it look like? Can you tell me that?"

She hesitated.

"No," she said, running the lock of hair frantically through her fingers.

"You didn't even catch a glimpse?"

She made a non-committal noise, still tugging at the lock of hair, anxiety twisting her insides into knots. Fingers lifted her chin, and she felt heat pass in front of her eyes.

"You're blind."

She could feel the pity, and pushed his hands away, taking a step back. He caught her wrist.

"Come over here and sit down."

Annie hesitated before reluctantly allowing herself to be led to a well-worn old chair.

"Now, can you tell me what happened? Anything you can remember, no matter how insane it might sound."

Annie tried to think of what to say, almost immediately returning to twiddling the lock of hair around her fingers.

"Charlie noticed it first. A long time before I did, actually, must've been three or four blocks.."

"Sorry," the Doctor interrupted. "Who's Charlie?"

Annie took a deep breath, afraid that her composure wouldn't last through this. "My dog. He's... he was my guide dog."

The hair pulling intensified, and the man took hold of her wrist again.

"You're going to pull all your hair out if you keep doing that," he let go. "Just tell me what you can about the creature, don't think about anything else."

Annie nodded, wiping away tears that threatened to fall, and returning her hands to a twisted knot in her lap, taking a few deep breaths.

"The smell, it was... I don't know, like something rotten, and... burning. The footsteps were heavy. Two legs and it kind of shuffled..." she stopped for a moment, and shook her head. "I don't know, oh this is ridiculous," she blinked back tears, twisting and re-twisting her hands, muttering to herself, "it was just a big dog, there aren't any monsters."

The man waited for a moment.

"I know it might be hard, but do you think you could retrace the route you took to get here?"

"I don't know, maybe."

"Good, come with me then," he grabbed her hand, pulling her from the chair and out the door.

The air outside was still damp and cool. She ran a finger over the face of her watch. It was only just after midnight, though it had felt like hours since she encountered the creature. A pit formed in her stomach. What if it was still around, just waiting for her to come out?

"It's still night," she tried to keep her voice from trembling. "Are you going to be able to see what you're looking for? Maybe we should wait."

"Ah, it's all part of the fun," he replied, far too happy for her liking.

"Yeah, sure, fun."

A hand landed on her shoulder again, squeezing gently, "Everything will be fine, trust me."

She shrugged away again.

_Famous last words..._

Annie reached out to find the door she had just come through.

"Is this attached to a building or something?" she found the corner, and continued down the next wall.

"Nope," the man replied. He didn't follow her.

After turning the second corner, where she assumed she must be out of his sight, she paused. She had no idea who this man was, what he really wanted from her, what he might do to a little blind girl alone in a back alley... she wanted to trust him, but every instinct she possessed told her to run.

And then what? Try to stumble her way back home from god only knew where, with no guide dog, no cane, and hope that the monster didn't return for her? The man hadn't tried to hurt her yet, though he'd had plenty of opportunity.

She was surprised to come to the third corner, and another perfectly perpendicular wall. She shook her head. The size of the building she had just come out of, it was impossible. She walked quickly to the fourth corner, and back to the door.

Fear welled up again as she pushed open the door and stepped inside, just to be sure. "It can't be, no, it's not right."

She stepped back out of the box, tripping over the lip in her haste, and was just barely caught before hitting the ground.

"Careful," the man hoisted her back up.

"It's bigger on the inside," she reached out again to touch the door. "That's... it's bigger on the inside. That's impossible."

"Not impossible," she could hear glee in his voice. "Just not very likely."

* * *

**A/N: Critique welcome! Requests for future adventures also welcome! I have the entire first story written, and will post a new chapter every few days. **


	2. Run - Part 2

"No, no, it's a trick. It's got to be some kind of trick."

The Doctor couldn't help grinning ear to ear.

"I swear, no tricks. It's bigger on the inside."

"But… how? What is it?"

"It's called a TARDIS. Stands for Time And Relative Dimensions In Space."

"I don't understand."

"It's a space ship that can travel through time."

Annie moved her head side to side, almost as though she was looking for something. What people usually took with confusion and amazement, she seemed to be taking with fear and suspicion. He steered her away gently.

"Come on, Annie. Can you show me how you got here?"

She nodded silently, and hesitantly picked a direction.

The going was slow. The Doctor noticed flecks of blood here and there, and clawed footprints, but opted not to tell Annie what he saw.

"We're coming to a corner," he warned her with a hand on her shoulder. She took a few steps away and stopped to think. She no longer looked scared as she recalled her steps, just sad, and defeated. And that was so much worse.

"This way," she pointed to the right with an almost skeletal-looking hand, voice sounding dead.

He tried to think of something – anything – he could say. He was so lost in his thoughts that it was the Doctor who tripped and nearly face-planted into the sidewalk. Annie stopped at the sound.

"What was that?"

He looked back to see a long, white stick lying on the ground. He picked it up, hurriedly wiping off specks of blood with his coat.

"Hold out your hands," he said, grinning.

"Why?"

"I believe this belongs to you," he placed it in Annie's tentatively outstretched hands.

"It's not broken." Annie felt along its length, the ghost of a smile on her lips. "Thank you," she whispered, barely loud enough for him to hear.

They continued, Annie's steps just a touch more confident with her regained independence. The Doctor soon grew used to the steady hypnotic tapping as Annie swung the cane lightly along the ground in front of her. He was surprised when it stopped suddenly, and found they were at another corner.

"Down there," he barely heard her as she pointed. He could see a dark mass halfway down the street, hanging off the curb.

"Maybe you should stay here."

"No," Annie shook her head. She stayed behind the Doctor, clutching the cane to her body, not allowing it to touch the ground.

A few meters away from the dark shape, Annie stopped.

"I can smell blood," she whispered, voice trembling as tears rolled down her face.

"Just stay here, okay?" she nodded, and he stepped away, crouching to examine what was barely recognizable as the body of a dog. He looked around and saw that the harness had been discarded on the sidewalk a short distance away, the leather ripped to shreds and the metal handle twisted and pulled apart.

"What did this to you?" he muttered to himself, looking from the bloody mess on the ground to Annie, who was even more pale than before.

"Maybe you should sit down," he led her a bit farther from the remains of the dog, sitting her against a wall and putting his coat over her shoulders. "I'll only be a minute."

He returned to the dog and began scanning it with his sonic screwdriver, searching for any kind of visual clue at the same time. He knew of more creatures than he would like to that could be the culprit, but there had to be something that would tell him exactly what this one was. He checked the readings, and shook his head, scanning once more to be sure. Looking closer at the carnage scattered along the sidewalk, he found fragments of dull, thickly ridged scales and dark, mangled feathers. Evidence that his scans were correct, and that made his stomach clench.

"No, no, that can't be right," he said to himself. "I thought they were gone, I didn't think there were any left on Earth."

"Any what?" Annie asked quietly from where she was sitting.

"What?" he turned around quickly, surprised for a moment that she had heard him. "Guess I'll have to remember not to think out loud around you," he said as lightly as he could manage, and returned to the tiny figure. She ducked her head and smiled weakly through the tears drying on her cheeks.

"So, what was it?" she asked quietly.

"Well," the Doctor rubbed the back of his head, trying to think of the best way to explain. "It's a creature that came to this planet a long time ago. It inspired quite a few legends."

"It was an alien?" Annie raised her head, eerily blank eyes happening to fall on his, causing a pit of uneasiness that forced him to look away.

"Yes, an alien creature that hunts by blinding its prey. Obviously that's not going to work on you. You're lucky."

"Yeah, lucky," she muttered.

"Come on, let's get you out of here," he had found what he needed to know, there was no point in staying there any longer. Who knew when the creature would return to finish off its meal; and if it did, the Doctor had no idea how he would fight it.

He pulled Annie to her feet, half carrying her back to the TARDIS.

* * *

Annie groaned and put her head face down into the pillow.

_Do I have to do anything today?_

She reached out for her watch on the bedside table, but her hand smacked against a wall.

"Ow! What the hell?" she sat up, inspecting the wall, suddenly remembering what had happened the night before: the monster, Charlie, the phone box that was bigger on the inside, a stranger trying to help her…"

"Ah, you're awake," a cheery voice said from behind her. "Good."

She jumped and spun around, heart racing.

"Sorry, didn't mean to scare you," he took her hand and wrapped it around a warm cup. "It's tea."

"Thanks," she adjusted herself to sit more comfortably on the bed, sipping at the tea.

A chair scraped along the floor and creaked quietly as the man sat down.

"How are you doing?"

"Okay, I guess," she turned her head side to side, listening. She vaguely remembered being half carried back to the phone box. She wasn't in the same large room she had been in before, but she could still feel that faint, unmistakable vibration.

"Am I in the…" she paused to think. What had he called it? "Am I in your ship?"

"The TARDIS, yes."

"Do you live here?"

"I do."

"And who are you, exactly?"

"I'm the Doctor."

"Doctor… who?"

"Just the Doctor."

Annie sipped her tea, the silence weighing heavily.

"That thing…" she said quietly, the morning bringing with it a seed of doubt. "That was real? You aren't just messing with me?"

"It's real, yes. Though I didn't think any still existed on Earth."

"What is it?"

"It's called a mortifer. It inspired the basilisk legends on Earth. It hunts by blinding it's prey-"

"No it doesn't," Annie said, surprising herself by cutting him off. If there was one thing she new, it was mythology, and she couldn't help but correct him, even if she continued on much more timidly. "I mean, I… I thought that if it looked at you, you died."

The Doctor laughed quietly, "by extension, I suppose. Most people who suddenly found themselves without sight would freeze on the spot, and the ones who didn't wouldn't be moving very quickly. Easy prey."

Annie's cheeks grew hot, and she tried to hide it by draining the last of her tea. And then a horrifying thought occurred to her.

"Will it come after me again?"

"I don't know, I'm sorry."

She gripped the teacup hard, heart pounding. What if it was out there waiting for her? She started to panic. "What am I supposed to do? I can't see it! I barely got away from it. If I hadn't… if your ship hadn't been there…"

He covered her hands – still holding the teacup – with his.

"You can stay here until we figure it out, you'll be safe in the TARDIS. It can't get in here."

"I don't want to stay here!" she pulled away from him, the fear becoming overwhelming. "I want to go home. I want this all to go away. I want to read about stuff like this, I don't want to live it. I never wanted to live it!"

"I'll make it safe for you, and then you can go home. I will, I promise," the Doctor said putting his hands on her arms.

"Don't touch me!" she nearly screamed it at him, holding the teacup in one hand, wanting, just for a moment, to throw it at him. Instead, she curled her knees to her chest and buried her head in them, just wanting to block it all out, convince herself that it was all a dream, that she would wake up, and everything would be the way it had been before.

The Doctor sighed as he gently pried the teacup from her fingers, and his footsteps faded into silence.

* * *

**A/N: Reviews and critique always appreciated! Hopefully this all flowed okay. It used to be probably twice as long, but then Annie informed me that the backstory I had given her - which was originally the main focus of this chapter - was, in fact, completely incorrect.**

**Soooo... yeah. I had to cut out some pretty massive chunks and try to patch it all up as best I could. **


	3. Run - Part 3

Run - Part III

The doctor fiddled with the TARDIS controls, scanning for the mortifer and trying to figure out how to get rid of it. The area wouldn't be safe for Annie – wouldn't be safe for _anyone_ – until he got rid of it. He was disturbed from his thoughts by the sound of Annie's cane. He suddenly felt guilty. He hadn't shown Annie how to get from her room to the TARDIS control room. How long since he'd left her? How long might she have been wondering through endless corridors? What if she'd gotten lost, or stumbled on something dangerous?

"Hello?" Annie called out quietly as she approached, and the Doctor leaped from his chair to make sure she was okay.

"Annie! How did you find your way?"

"There's a vibration coming from this room. I followed it."

"Brilliant!" the Doctor grinned.

Annie looked slightly embarrassed.

"I guess so…"

"So, what brings you up here?"

"I wanted to say sorry, for earlier. I was just scared, and…"

"It's all right to be scared, don't worry about it."

Annie lowered her head.

"I was also wondering…" she hesitated. "Do you have anything to eat?"

The Doctor looked her over quickly. He'd noticed she was very small, but in the darkness of the night before, hadn't noticed exactly how small – how _thin_ – Annie was until then. He wondered how long it had been since she last ate.

"Of course! I know someplace we could go–"

"Outside?" Annie almost squeaked as a look of fear passed over her face.

"Yes. I don't really have food, well, the TARDIS can make food, but it's not very good, and-" he paused, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Trust me, okay? Nothing can hurt you while you're with me. Besides," he turned to fiddle with some controls. "It's not in the area right now. The TARDIS sensors can't pick it up, so it must be out of range, but then, it's been a very long time since I've seen one, I may have them calibrated incorrectly… and you should ignore everything I just said and not worry about it." He tried to smile reassuringly, taking a few moments to remember that Annie couldn't actually see that he was smiling reassuringly.

* * *

"So what do we do about this… thing," Annie finally said after a long silence in which she'd barely touched the sandwich in front of her.

The Doctor sighed, conflicted. The mortifer was too dangerous to let it stay here on Earth, but he didn't want to kill it, not if he could help it. but he had no idea if he would be able to transfer it somewhere else, to a planet with no humans or intelligent life. Preferably, he would have liked to return it to its home planet, where it would have plenty of its natural prey – mouse-like creatures the size of hares. But he wasn't sure where the planet was, or whether it was currently colonized, or even habitable, or what time period he would have to go to if it wasn't… He had no doubt the TARDIS could find it, if it decided to cooperate, which wasn't particularly likely.

He ruffled his hair.

"Well, I know how to kill it…"

To his surprise, she seemed a bit unsettled by this.

"I guess that's the only option, really, isn't it?" Annie said quietly.

"Well…"

Annie raised an eyebrow, waiting.

"It'll be difficult, and dangerous, but I could try to trap it, take it to a different planet where it won't harm anyone."

Annie was silent for a moment.

"You can't blame an animal for its instincts," she said quietly.

The Doctor smiled, "No, you can't."

"I don't want you to kill it," she said.

The Doctor was silent again, trying to think of a plan. He knew there were some stasis crates somewhere in the vastness of the TARDIS, but how would he get the mortifer into one? Especially when he couldn't look at it without risking blindness.

The use of a mirror was the first thought to pop into his mind, but that would be difficult to coordinate, and as far as he knew, could still damage his eyes, even if it didn't blind him. A camera, maybe? But the internal sensors could be damaged just like his eyes would, and then what would he do?

"You'll need my help, won't you?" Annie said suddenly.

The Doctor looked up at her.

"You can't look at it," Annie continued, twirling her hair between her fingers. "But I can 'see' it."

He nodded, thinking. It made sense. He faired much better than humans would with his eyes closed, but no where near as well as someone who had lived without sight for most of their lives. But to ask this tiny girl to help him capture a monster… If something happened to him in the process, her chances were grim.

But if she wasn't around and he failed, it would go after someone else. And his chances of success were better with her than without her.

"I can do this, Doctor," she said, much more firmly than he had heard her speak yet. She put her hands down flat on the table and took a deep breath. "I'm ready to stop being useless."

* * *

Annie followed close behind the Doctor as he wandered around the TARDIS, looking for something he had called a "stasis cage." There were lots of bangs and crashes, and Annie soon learned to stay in the hall rather than follow the Doctor into any of the rooms and risk being crushed. How could one man fill a spaceship that seemed to be the size of a city with so much junk?

"Found it!" Annie heard him practically swimming back through waist-high debris. Some objects fell out into the hallway ahead of him, a few clattering away down the hall. She heard a metallic thunk as the Doctor set down the cage. She reached out to touch it. It barely came to her waist.

"It's not very big," she said doubtfully.

"Mortifers aren't very big," the Doctor replied cheerfully, still a bit out of breath. "Not much bigger than a German Shepherd, actually."

"It sounded huge."

"Everything seems bigger when you're scared," he patted her head. The cage scraped the floor as he lifted it. "Come on, we've got to find a rooster now."

"A rooster?"

* * *

The rooster, it turned out, wasn't an actual rooster, but a recording of one – a recording good enough to convince Annie that the Doctor had, in fact, been keeping a live rooster in the TARDIS, until he handed her the small electronic device.

"Think it'll fool the mortifer?"

"It fooled me," she said, running her fingers over the device. It didn't feel much different than a cassette recorder. "But will it really… don't tell me the legends about a rooster's crow killing it are real."

"No, no, of course not."

"So why…?"

"Do we have it?" the Doctor finished for her. "On its home planet, the mortifer's only natural predator just happens to sound almost exactly like a rooster. Assuming it hasn't lost that instinct, we should be able to use this to scare it towards the cage."

"Seems like a strange coincidence," she wondered if this man was entirely sane. She wondered if _she_ was entirely sane.

"I've seen stranger, believe me."

She heard him rummaging around

They returned to the control room and the Doctor rummaged around a bit more.

"There we go," she heard him shake something. "This will help us find it."

* * *

It didn't take long before they had, and Annie began seriously regretting her decision to help. After setting up the cage, the Doctor tied a handkerchief loosely around his eyes so he could see the ground right in front of him, but wouldn't look at the mortifer accidentally. Annie grabbed the back of his coat, and turned him in the right direction. She could hear - and smell - the mortifer eating something, and was glad her generally strong stomach hadn't decided to break tradition.

"Ten o'clock," Annie whispered, pulling the doctor to the right and skirting around the mortifer.

When they were behind it, the Doctor played the recording, and Annie heard the mortifer take off like a shot.

"It's running, go!" The Doctor took off as well. Annie's feet barely hit the ground as she was pulled along behind him.

Annie heard the mortifer's footsteps change as it darted down the alley, then stop suddenly.

"Stop!" she shouted, tugging the Doctor's coat. He skidded to a stop just past the alley and Annie crashed into his back.

A padded foot took a step, claws clicking on cement, as the creature sniffed the air.

"It's coming out," she turned the Doctor around to face it. He played the recording again. The footsteps hesitated, but the sniffing continued.

"It's not running away," she whispered.

"Oh, I was afraid of that."

"Of what?"

"Well, we don't exactly smell like predators…"

The creature took a step forward.

"It's coming."

"I guess it's time for plan B then."

"What's that?"

"We're the bait."

"What?"

"Where is it?"

"I dont–"

"Where is it?" He reached back and took her hand, prying it off his jacket.

"Dead ahead."

"Okay, get ready to run."

"But I can't–"

"Annie, you have to trust me, please!"

The Doctor backed up, keeping Annie behind him. She heard the mortifer follow.

"We need it to chase us," the Doctor whispered.

Gulping down her fear, Annie tried to manoeuvre them around as the mortifer came towards them, until they were between it and the alley.

"The alley's behind us."

"Good," the Doctor turned and pushed Annie in front of him. His hands left her shoulders briefly, and she realized he was taking the handkerchief off his eyes. "Ready? Run!"

This time it was the Doctor steering Annie. She wasn't entirely sure how long they had run, but they must be nearing the cage…

"When I say jump…" she felt his hands grip tighter. "Jump!"

She barely had time to react before he had lifted her up and thrown her. She hit the ground hard and rolled. There was a crash behind her as something slammed into the cage. She jumped to her feet and ran back towards the sound, but all the wind was knocked out of her as she ran straight into the cage herself.

"Doctor?" she wheezed.

"Phew!" she heard footsteps land beside her, followed by laughter. "That was something, wasn't it?"

* * *

**A/N: And so, in traditional Doctor Who fashion (though not on purpose) the ending was rather rushed and simple.**

**Sorry.**

**I just couldn't think of anything else to do, and didn't want this story dragged on for too long :/**

**ANYWAYS reviews are always appreciated, as are ideas or requests for future adventures that the Doctor and Annie can have.**


	4. Run - Part 4

Run - Part IV

"Well, here we are," the Doctor stepped out of the TARDIS after Annie. His smile fell as he looked at the house in front of them. He must have gotten the wrong place. Again. "Or maybe not."

"No, this is the right place," Annie seemed disappointed as well.

The tiny one-story house looked nearly abandoned, the yard overgrown and forgotten. One of the front steps had collapsed, and a hole in the door had been covered with a piece of cardboard.

"Does anyone else live here?"

"No. Just me."

"What about your family?"

"Gone. I inherited the house. I was just old enough to be on my own."

"I'm so sorry," he leaned over to give her a hug. "Tell you what, you helped me catch the mortifer, I'll get this place fixed up before I leave." It would take days, maybe even a few weeks, but he just couldn't leave her there, living in a house that looked like it could fall down around her with one good gust of wind.

She pulled away, shaking her head, "It would just fall apart again. I can't look after it, and I can't afford to pay someone or move somewhere else."

"Then I'll come back and check on you, make sure everything's okay."

"You'd forget."

"No, no I wouldn't. I promise."

She turned away for a moment.

"Can I…" she turned back. "Can I come with you? Please?"

He looked at her eyes, unfocused, looking into the distance and seeing nothing; the small, fragile hands gripping a white plastic cane.

"No."

"Why not?"

"It's too dangerous with me. Besides, I prefer travelling alone."

He tried to pull away, but she grabbed his sleeve and pulled back, just as strong.

"Please," whether it was intentional or not, her eyes fell on his, and he felt as though she could see through him, straight to his soul. "I've spent my whole life feeling sorry for myself, thinking I was some stupid little blonde girl who couldn't do anything because I couldn't see. And then I fought a monster, and I survived it. I escaped something that can kill you just by looking at you. I have nothing. I never tried to make friends, I've got no family, no job, and now that my dog is…" she released her grip on his arm. "Please, let me come with you. I don't care if it's dangerous. I don't want to be the stupid little blind girl anymore. I want to be the girl who had the courage to run even though she couldn't see where she was going. To do that, I need to start over, and I need someone who will remind me not to stop."

By the end of the speech, her voice was trembling, her face burning red. The Doctor wondered if she had ever strung so many words together in her life.

He stayed silent for a moment, weighing the possibilities. What might happened to her if she joined him? How many of his companions had ended up having to fend for themselves, fight for their lives, while he couldn't help them? He couldn't help thinking that this tiny girl, much as he liked her, would never be able to do that. But was it really fair of him to judge her on that? He had seen first hand that she was braver and more capable than she gave herself credit for, and something told him that this was only the beginning.

"How long were you coming up with that speech?" He asked, grinning.

"When I realized I didn't want you to find the right house," she smiled meekly. "Did it work?"

"Yes. Yes, I think it did."

* * *

**A/N: And there we have it, the final little piece of Annie's introduction. From here on out it will (probably) be little one-shots as I come up with ideas. If anyone has any requests or suggestions, I am always happy to here them!**


End file.
